1. Field of the Invention
The object of the present invention is a system and a method for providing traffic information, in order to reduce traffic, optimize travel time and increase safety, especially within city limits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traffic congestion is a well-known problem, especially in cities with a high number of crossroads. Traffic flow may be optimized by providing systems for management of traffic lights, but these systems have a reactive nature—they may adapt the traffic light to actual traffic conditions, but have limited capabilities of impacting individual vehicles to optimize their movement.
Traffic management systems may be configured as a so-called ‘green wave’, where the main road has traffic lights configured such that a vehicle moving at a certain speed, for example 50 km/h, will reach the next traffic lights at a green light. The drawback of this system is that each driver shall maintain a particular optimal speed, for example 50 km/h, on the particular section of the road. However, in traffic conditions, a driver must adapt to other vehicles, which often means that it will not be possible to maintain the optimal speed in order to keep with the green wave. This especially happens when road sections between the traffic lights are long.
A U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,390 discloses a traffic light timer, which provides a visible and accurate warning that a traffic light signal is about to change. The time remaining before the change is displayed in numeric form on a display and visibly counts down the seconds remaining. The display can be alphanumeric or graphical, allowing for the display of free form icons. Such timer may allow the driver to adapt the speed of travel to drive optimally, i.e. to slow down when the driver assumes that the light will soon change to red, or to speed up when the driver assumes that there is sufficient time to cross the road at green light. The drawback of the system is that it requires the driver to make own assessments and that it is effective only within the range of the eyesight of the driver.
Taking into account the aforementioned prior art publications, there exists a need to design a system and a method for providing traffic information, which will be useful for optimization of driving speed of individual vehicles and therefore may lead to reduction of overall traffic congestion.